On Sunday evening the residents of Kemari area of Karachi were suddenly exposed to a strange gas leak. Soon after, person after person started passing out, raising alarm bells at hospital given the influx of the affected people. At least 14 people have died from the mysterious gas while more than 150 people, complaining of breathing problems, have been admitted to hospitals. The source of the leak has yet to be ascertained, which speaks volumes of the performance and competence of public departments. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the Sindh government has ordered evacuation of residents from affected areas. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has visited the areas and ordered the shifting of residents to the nearest but safest wedding hall till the situation is back to normal. This was the last desperate act to do as the smell of the toxic gas is not fading and more and more people are falling prey to it. The most effective thing should have been detecting the source of the toxic killer gas and fix the leakage. It seems the authorities are just left guessing about the matter. The commissioner sees the poisonous gas stemming from a ship container offloading soybean or a similar substance, while the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency sees the possible cause of gas from a terminal storing crude oil and petroleum products within the residential areas. While the port authorities have been quick to reject the reports of gas emission from any ship container the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency has been unable to pinpoint the exact storing facility where from the gas emitted. Now that the poisonous gas has played havoc with the residents, there are lessons for the government as well as the public to cope with such eventualities in the future. The government needs to make its emergency preparedness mechanism more effective and robust. So far, the only government agency to fight natural and man-made disasters is the National Disaster Management Authority. In this episode, the authority did not play its due role and remained elusive from the scene. More importantly, measures should be taken to avoid the occurrence of such incidents in the future. That is possible when residential areas are separated from commercial areas. Moreover, residents should be vigilant about any commercial activities in their vicinities that can harm public health. Also, a robust mechanism should be made to check activities at the port which may damage environment and public health. In a way, both the public and the government will have to take up roles to stop re-occurrence of Kemari like tragedies. *